Hunger in India remained a major concern throughout 2022 due to the slow recovery from the economic downturn after the two years of the Covid-19 pandemic. True, as PM Narendra Modi drummed up, India became the fifth largest economy in the world, but his jubilation conceals the pangs of hunger of 80 crores of people in the country out of 140 crore population, who needed free food grain to survive. Moreover, the number of hungry is most likely to increase in 2023, since the Indian economy is going to fare badly as projected by almost all the assessments of national and international institutions. In the last “Mann ki Baat” of the year, Modi labelled 2022 as a “wonderful year for the Indian Economy”. In September, it was reported that India became the fifth largest economy in the world, while Gautam Adani became the second richest person in the world. India was already at fifth in nominal terms in 2019, and Adani thereafter has slipped to third. However, this wonderful economy for which PM Modi is all smiles conceals the bitterness of the ever-rising number of people suffering from hunger.
This estimate of the Centre is a very conservative estimate which is based only on the number of people who are entitled under the NFSA to foodgrains at cheaper rates of Rs 1, 2, and 3 per kilogram. It also should be noted that NFSA covers 75 percent of the rural people and 50 percent of the urban population, who are not supposed to be able to purchase food grains from the open market. This ground reality does not support the claim of a “wonderful Indian Economy” during 2022, since the economic growth as modelled works for the rich while leaving behind the common people snatching from them their right to live with dignity by earning from their toil. They have been reduced to destitution, almost a state of beggary, in which they are compelled to live in the humiliation of waiting for free food grains.
The labor market remained volatile throughout the year. A large number of poor people are suffering both in the rural and urban areas, searching for jobs but not getting one. Unemployment in rural areas was 5.83 percent in January, which rose to 7.55 percent in November, and is likely to rise over 8.1 percent in December. In urban areas, January 2022 began with an unemployment rate of 8.14 percent, which rose to 8.9 percent in November, and is likely to touch 10 percent in December 2022. So, there is less opportunity for the people to earn their livelihood and live with dignity. Moreover, a larger number of the workforce has been losing their jobs because of their being laid off. With no earnings and no social security coverage, the hunger level has been going up month after month. Production of rice and wheat has suffered in 2022 due to a range of reasons which included heat waves and flooding, and hence their prices have increased by over 25 percent. The year 2023 is thus beginning with greater challenges on the hunger and poverty front, with the risk of deceleration of the Indian economy in 2023, and the emergence of China’s new Covid-19 variant enhancing greater uncertainty.
